The NDP is calling for changes to several bills proposed by the provincial government.
The government is trying to pass “overreaching and concerning laws,” according to official opposition leader Claudia Chender.
She said that includes new rules that would tie universities to government objectives, give the province the power to throw out freedom of information requests they deem are vexatious, as well as lifting bans on fracking and exploring for uranium without consulting the public first, along with others.
She encouraged anyone who disagrees with these policies to visit the legislature on Monday for the public bills committee meeting, where anyone can speak about their concerns with the proposed legislation.
“This is your chance to speak directly to the government about the issues that matter to you. They work for you, and it’s time they started acting like it,” Chender told reporters during a Thursday morning news conference.
The Standing Committee on Public Bills happens on Monday at 9 a.m. in the committee room at One Government Place in Halifax. People can also tune into the livestream on the legislature website. Several bills have public presenters coming to talk about them.
Premier walked back changes to auditor general act
Chender said the province has already made changes after public outcry.
The PCs proposed a bill that would have let the government fire the auditor general without cause, meaning a significant reason, if the house votes two-thirds in favour.
Critics and Kim Adair, the auditor general herself, said that would prevent her from doing her job properly, because her office would no longer be independent of the governing party.
Premier Tim Houston then promised to scrap certain changes. It’s unclear if that means all of the proposed changes to the Auditor General Act or just some parts.
Houston said their original intention was to look at the legislation in other provinces, meaning Alberta and Manitoba, but not to fire Adair.
Amendments to freedom of information requests
The province also wants to give public agencies the power to dismiss freedom of information requests they deem are “trivial, frivolous, or vexatious.”
Tricia Ralph–whose time as the privacy commissioner ended in February–said those requests are a problem. But she recommended that the privacy commissioner be the only one with the power to dismiss them.
Houston previously said that government bodies could dismiss the requests, but the appeal process would still give the commissioner the final say.
However, Chender said on Thursday that those appeals are meaningless.
“Right now, those appeals take three, four, five years. It’s fundamentally useless for someone who needs information, particularly their information, in a timely way,” she said.
Houston also said the commissioner’s office made some recommendations for changes, and the province would make them.
Chender said they have not heard of any specific changes yet.
Concerns over job security
Tabled changes to the Civil Service Act would give the deputy department heads the power to fire workers without cause, so long as they are not in a union.
Twila Grosse, the minister in charge of the Public Service Commission, said the changes would give the government flexibility to adapt to “changing needs in the public service.”
She said this, coupled with the potential changes to freedom of information requests, would be a bad combination.
“The premier is essentially threatening the jobs of public servants by giving himself the power to dismiss them without cause, and then saying that they can determine if a freedom of information request is vexatious or not,” said Chender.
“So you have a situation where they could be trying to decide, ‘Do I do what I know the premier’s office wants me to do, or do I do what I think is responsible?’ knowing you could lose your job in the process.”
Universities bill
One bill would let the province appoint up to half of the members to university’s board. It would also link universities’ funding decisions to government priorities.
Advanced Education Minister Brendan Maguire said that he’s had some questions around the bill and does not want to micromanage schools, and the bill is more of a framework for now. He said that the province would meet with schools “so that they can help build the regulations in the bill.”
“I’m not here to to talk about or to tell them who should be where and what they should be teaching. They’ve done an incredible job. My main concern right now is, honestly, around making sure that they’re sustainable.
However, at the time, he said he did not anticipate making any amendments to the bill.
Opposition leader Claudia Chender says there is a better way to hold them accountable for spending tax payer dollars than aligning schools with government goals.
“You don’t tell them what to spend money on. You make them accountable for the money they have spent,” said Chender.
